Beneath a Mask
by Drarrinz
Summary: When Leonardo allows his honor to get the better of himself during a run, he gets more than he bargained for…
1. Savior

**Disclaimer: **_**I do not own the TMNT. I do own one character, however…**_

**Summary: **_**When Leonardo allows his honor to get the better of himself during a run, he gets more than he bargained for…  
**_

x-x-x-x

It was a quiet night in New York. For some, it was a blessing. For others, it raised suspicion. And yet, for four individuals, it was a mix of both.

There was nothing interesting on television, nor was there anything sinister on the news. It was truly a dull evening…even for those dwelling in the sewers.

"I'm going out for a run."

The silence had been broken, and it gained the attention of three of the other individuals…

"What?"

The one who had previously spoken stood up.

"I'm going out for a run."

One of the other individuals stood up as well.

"Leo, I know that it's boring staying underground, but…"

The first individual, Leo, shook his head.

"It's for training."

One of the other individuals muttered something about being a teacher's pet, which forced Leo's mouth into a stern frown of disapproval.

"Unlike you, Raph, some ninjas like to stay in shape and practice."

Raph emitted a growl, but remained silent otherwise. Another individual – a rat – emerged from a nearby room.

"While it is commendable that you desire to train so late at night, Leonardo, you need to be careful on the surface. Our appearances are much different from the surface-dwellers, and they would not understand. Remember, do not compromise our existence."

Leo bowed in respect.

"Yes, Master Splinter."

With that, Leonardo dashed out of the lair.

xxx

Dashing on the rooftops and leaping from building to building is a difficult activity to master. The correct speed is required to gain the right momentum to leap off of a rooftop and land carefully on another.

Not only that, but it requires a lot of stamina and agility to do so.

Leonardo knew this. Concentration, balance, and conserving energy were necessary to do this exercise, and he found it to be an interesting form of training. Not to mention that it was somewhat thrilling. But he also knew that he had to be on the lookout as well…

He stopped running, taking a breather on one of the rooftops before looking up at the sky.

Instead of seeing a clear sky with the moon casting its glow, he saw rain clouds forming. At this, he grimaced slightly. The rain was a mix of a good thing and a bad thing; for one, could be light and refreshing as he ran, or it could be a downpour and make the rooftops slippery.

Leo sighed. He would have to cut this training session short, which was a major disappointment…

He turned and started to run back in the direction of the lair. He would have to train again tomorrow night…

Suddenly, he noticed movement down on the streets below. After a few seconds of debating whether or not to check it out, his curiosity overtook him and he found himself leaping down to another building that was closer to the ground. He rushed over to the edge and looked down to see what was going on.

Not surprisingly, it appeared to be someone getting chased by a larger person…or so it seemed to be, at first. Upon further inspection, it looked like a kid was being chased by a gang of angry teenagers and adults.

Leonardo watched, stunned, as the child was chased down the streets. He found himself leaping from building to building, following the chase, but being mindful of where he was going at the same time.

He watched at where the gang was chasing the kid, thinking, _'Don't go into an alley, don't go into an alley…'_

Alas, the child had been so focused on the gang that it had not been paying attention to where it was going. It ran into an alley, crashing into the closed-off wall before getting back up and turning around. Its back was pressed firmly against the wall as it watched in terror as the gang slowly closed in around their prey.

Leonardo stopped on a nearby rooftop, watching the scene unfold. Part of him wanted to help, but another part of him knew that doing so would compromise his existence to the surface-dwellers.

The gang stopped moving, but the biggest member – which Leo assumed was their leader – continued to saunter forward. When the leader was close enough to the child, he uttered something, to which the child shook its head. The gang leader's mouth formed into a snarl and he grabbed the child by the neck, lifting it effortlessly. The leader spoke again, to which the child gave the same response as it struggled.

The child was thrown to the ground and, before it could react, the gang leader gave it a harsh kick to the ribs. Leonardo watched, horrified, as the gang leader kicked the child again and again.

After a few more harsh kicks, the gang leader stopped and reached for something in his jacket…

…However, Leo could not hold back any longer; unsheathing both katanas, he jumped down, consumed by both rage and honor.

xxx

After the last gang member had been knocked out, Leonardo glanced around before sheathing his weapons. While he had not intended to show himself, he knew that he had done the right thing by saving the child from possible death…

_...Wait…_

He turned around quickly. The child was still there, lying on its side, eyes closed, and arms crossed over its chest. A pained expression marked its face, and Leo noticed something disturbing; there was blood on the ground. The fact that the child was severely injured tugged at his heart.

He rushed over, examining…

_There's no time; take the kid back to the lair!_

Leo grimaced. The child's life was in his hands now. Trying to remove any terrible thoughts from his mind, he gently took the child into his arms and stood up…

…Suddenly, he felt a droplet of water splash onto his head.

_Oh, for the love of…!_

It started to rain. With a sigh, Leo climbed up the nearest building and began to leap from roof to roof, attempting to shield the child from the rain along the way.

x-x-x-x

_**Author's Note:** This is my first TMNT fanfic, so be kind with your reviews...if you decide to leave one..._


	2. Emergency Situation

**Disclaimer: **_**I do not own the TMNT. I do own one character, however…**_

**Summary: **_**When Leonardo allows his honor to get the better of himself during a run, he gets more than he bargained for…**_

**Author's Note:_ Thank you to the people who took the time to review._**

x-x-x-x

_Hmm…_

The other individuals had retired to their rooms for the night. One of them was still active, tinkering with mechanical devices and working on miniature projects. The other two were probably off doing their own things as well.

_Mikey's probably just listening to music and reading comic books. Raph's doing whatever it is that he does…_

…And Leo was still out training. A glance at a nearby clock made the individual sigh. It was getting late, and Leonardo should have been back by now…

_Well, he does like to push himself when he trains…_

Pausing, the individual became lost in thought, wondering…

"Don!"

At the sudden shout of his name, Don jumped and fell out of his chair.

_What the…?_

It was Leo, and he sounded desperate…

"Leo, I'm here. What's wrong?"

"Don, we've got an emergency!"

_An emergency…?_

It took a moment for the news to register, but Don got up and rushed out of his room. Expecting the worst, he looked for his brother.

What he saw startled him; Leonardo had a panicked expression and…

…_Oh, shell…_

Don recognized the crimson liquid on his brother's plastron easily, but the small body in his arms startled him more.

"…Leo, that's…"

"We don't have time to discuss this; he needs medical attention now!"

At this, Don felt his medical instincts kick in. He nodded to Leo in understanding and lead him to their Med Room. Leo lowered the body onto the table as Don prepared several medical supplies. Noticing his brother's worried look, he ushered him out of the room.

"Don't worry, Leo. This little guy is in good hands. You may want to wash the blood off of yourself, though…"

Leonardo nodded before rushing to clean himself off. Don glanced back at the small form on the medical table.

_This is gonna be a long night…_

With a sigh, he rushed back and got to work.

xxx

…_That should do it…_

After what seemed like hours, Don finally managed to stop the blood from leaking out of the child's wounds. Examining the body one last time to make sure that there were no other injuries that needed attention, he breathed a sigh of relief. The child's health was stable…for now.

_Leo will be happy to know that the kid's okay now…_

Don walked out of the room to see Leonardo pacing around nearby. Don raised an eye ridge.

_Has he been waiting this whole time?_

"…Leo?"

His brother looked up instantly, their eyes meeting.

"Well? Is he okay?"

Don was surprised at the nervousness and concern in his brother's voice. Sure, Leo was naturally caring, but…

"…He's lost a lot of blood, Leo. I managed to stabilize his health, but I don't know if he'll make it through the night…"

At this news, Leo felt his heart break. He looked down at the floor, unable to keep eye contact anymore.

"…Can I see him?"

"…Sure. Just be careful. It took a while for me to stop the bleeding, and I don't want it to start up again."

Leo nodded before walking into the Med Room, Don following at a distance. He watched as his brother stopped in front of the table, gazing sadly at the unconscious child. Guilt seemed to be written all over Leo's face, but Don did not know why…

"…Leo…?"

"…It's my fault."

Don raised an eye ridge. He had not expected a confession, nor did he expect his brother's voice to be filled with pain, sorrow, and shame. He decided not to press into the matter; it was really none of his business, and Leo was already distressed enough.

"…It's my fault…I should've jumped in sooner…"

"…Leo, you did what you could…"

"No, I didn't, Don! I could've jumped in sooner to prevent this from happening…but, no…I was too concerned about my desire to uphold Master Splinter's request…to keep ourselves safe…that's all that really mattered at the time…But my foolish desire could've cost this kid his life!"

Don's eyes widened in shock, but made no further statements. He had no intention of angering his brother, and he did not want to make the mistake of saying something wrong…

"…I'm sorry…"

Don watched as his brother mumbled apologies, but knew that they were directed at the child on the table.

…_What exactly happened up there?_

Suddenly filled with curiosity, Don found himself wanting to know more about what Leo went through, but decided that now was not the time; Leo would tell him when he wanted to.

After a minute, Don could feel the adrenaline rush begin to wear off. Slowly but surely, he was getting tired.

"…We should let the little guy get some rest. Come on, Leo. We need to sleep, too."

With a slow nod, Leo followed his brother out of the Med Room, making their way to their own bedrooms. If the two brothers had glanced back, they would have seen one of the child's gloved hands twitch…

x-x-x-x

**Author's Note: _Forgive me for the short chapter, but I do have plans for the next chapter to be much longer. Take the time to review if you desire so. I hope that this fanfiction is at least enjoyable enough to read._**


	3. Unusual Awakening

**Disclaimer: **_**I do not own the TMNT. I do own one character, however…**_

**Summary: **_**When Leonardo allows his honor to get the better of himself during a run, he gets more than he bargained for…**_

**Author's Note: _Wow...thank you to the people who took the time to review!_**_**  
**_

x-x-x-x

For Leonardo, peaceful slumber did not come easily that night. He found himself thinking about the poor child and the condition that he was in…

_Don said that the kid might not make it through the night…_

Despite everything that he and Don had done to help the child, the situation still looked grim; much blood was lost, and they lacked the equipment for a blood transfusion. Besides, they did not know the child's blood type, and giving him the wrong type of blood would make it worse.

As much as he wanted to watch over the boy, he knew that he could not do so; he had training in the morning, and he needed to sleep.

…_I can check on him after training, I guess…_

With a sigh, Leo dozed off.

xxx

'…_Ohhh…'_

The boy's eyes slowly opened, revealing black oval eyes. They were blank and unfocused, almost as if he was in a trance.

'_I feel…strange…'_

He glanced around, taking note of what was around him.

'…_Am I…in a hospital?'_

He paused.

'_Well…I suppose that I can find out.'_

With that, he sat up and hopped off the medical table, but failed to notice one important detail:

His body was still on the table.

xxx

It had felt like an eternity before the morning training was over. Leonardo had done his best to feign happiness, and it seemed to work; nobody seemed to be aware of how he actually felt.

...Well, except for Donatello, but Leo knew that he could trust his brother to keep quiet about it.

…_I just hope that the boy is still alive…_

It took all of his willpower to restrain himself from running to the Med Room; he did not want to seem suspicious, nor did he want Raph or Mikey to follow him.

_They might overreact…and I don't want to start any problems…_

As he entered the Med Room, he prepared himself for the worst…

…However, Don had beaten him to the Med Room; he was standing by the child, silent.

"…Donnie, how is he?"

Donatello turned around to face his brother, frowning.

"…He didn't make it, Leo."

xxx

'_So this isn't a hospital after all.'_

After hours of exploring, he was amazed at the structure of what appeared to be the inside of a large building.

'_It doesn't look like any place I've ever seen before…but it's pretty awesome. I think I saw a training room and a workshop back there, too…'_

He continued to wander around, eventually stopping in front of the room he had exited from earlier.

"…I'm sorry, Leo…I did everything I could…"

"I know, Don. Don't blame yourself; I was the one who didn't rescue him in time…"

'…_Huh?'_

He looked into the room.

'…_Shells? Are those…turtles?'_

"…What do we do with him?"

"…I don't know…"

'…_What are they talking about?'_

A sudden surge of pain shot through his chest, and his eyes squeezed shut as he clutched at the area in a vain attempt to lessen it.

'_Wh-what is this?'_

The pain intensified, and he fell to his knees, emitting an unearthly wail…

xxx

Donatello turned to leave the room as Leo looked at the child's body. He should have expected this outcome; despite everything they had done, the boy must have been in a much worse condition than they had thought. It was his own fault for hesitating to rescue the child…

Suddenly, a sharp intake of breath was heard as the boy's back arched.

Leo stared in shock as the child before him took in ragged breaths, his mind not registering what was happening. Don must have heard it as well; he was quickly back at his brother's side, staring…

"…He's alive…"

The fact that the child was alive slowly registered into Leonardo's mind. He found himself smiling, happy that the boy had not passed away after all.

The two brothers watched as the child's breathing eventually became normal. After a minute, the boy's eyes slowly opened…

Black oval eyes gazed up at the turtles, and the boy's mouth formed into a weak smile.

"…Hi."

x-x-x-x

**Author's Note: _I know that I promised a longer chapter, but I had writer's block for a while...Oh, well. I hope that this fanfiction is still enjoyable to read._**


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